Huawei has taken advantage of its Eco-Connect Conference 2017 to announce the launch of its Sandton OpenLab to enable the global ICT firm to work with various industry partners in South Africa to create innovative solutions that enable digital transformation, while promoting industry ecosystem development.
Based on Huawei Open ICT platforms, and developing agile innovation, Huawei has launched the Huawei Enterprise ICT Solutions Open Lab, in Sandton, in collaboration with partners and software vendors.
To speed-up digital transformation, enterprises need to transform traditional IT systems and build new ICT infrastructures with cloud, IoT, and big data at the core..
The ICT firm said the first two joint innovation areas of Huawei’s Johannesburg OpenLab will focus on public safety and smart grid solutions, which will feature the development of advanced analytics for both police and power grid operations, as well as power IoT and integration of Huawei’s communication module into local smart metres.
Huawei is focused on facilitating a digital transformation ecosystem to implement joint innovations and expand the ecosystem in terms of industry alliances, business alliances, developer platforms, and open-source communities.
“We hope the Huawei OpenLab will create a new model for joint innovation. Subsequently, we would like to invite partners to work together with Huawei in this initiative,” says Stan Qiu, Energy Sector Director of the Huawei Enterprise Business Group in Southern Africa.
Huawei will provide the data centre facility, hardware and software infrastructure and technical team whilst the partner will contribute with ideas, products and human resources.
“By working together, we can enable new ideas to be verified more quickly, allow for more agile industry innovation and more efficient proof of concepts creation. The ultimate goal is to transform the lab into a customer experience centre and generate more opportunities for all ecosystem players,” adds Qiu.
Huawei is committed to cooperating with its customers and partners in building ICT platforms featuring Cloud, Pipe, and Device collaboration to create symbiotic, vibrant and sustainable ecosystems. Huawei will continue to work with its partners to explore new ways to address digital transformation challenges in the new ICT era.
To date, Huawei has built and operated OpenLabs in 5 cities including Suzhou, China; Munich, Germany; Mexico City, Mexico; Singapore; and Dubai, UAE.
These OpenLabs are facilitating joint innovation and solution launches with more than 400 partners across Smart City, finance, transportation, energy, manufacturing and media sectors. Globally, Huawei has established partnerships with nearly 80 solutions partners. Various large enterprises and government departments are implementing solutions developed by Huawei’s OpenLabs.
